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KS2 English textbook

Chapter 10: Reading non-fiction: retrieving, summarising and fact or opinion

  • Strand Reading
  • Level Year 5
  • Practice 77 questions with step-by-step solutions

National Curriculum for England, Key Stage 2 English, Year 5. Content: Read non-fiction for a purpose, from a range of text types: reports, explanations, instructions, biographies and recounts (RC-Y5j, RC1b), Retrieve and record information, with notes (RC3), Identify and summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph, with key details (RC2e, RC-Y5d), Use dictionaries, glossaries and reference texts to check meaning (RC1c), Distinguish fact from opinion and bias (RC-Y5k), Take part in a discussion or debate, listening and giving reasons (SL2, SL4).

Open Year 5 chapter

By the end of this chapter you will be able to

  • Name the text type and its purpose
  • Find and note information in a text and in a table
  • Summarise the main idea of each paragraph and the whole text
  • Use a glossary or a dictionary to check a word
  • Say whether a sentence is fact or opinion, and find bias
  • Give reasons in a short discussion

You should already know

  • Non-fiction, headings and captions (Year 4, Chapter 10)
  • Dictionaries and alphabetical order (Year 4, Chapter 2; Chapter 3 of this book)

Where this leads

  • Writing stories and poems (Chapter 11 of this book)

Lessons in this chapter

  1. 10.1 Text types and their purposes
  2. 10.2 Retrieving and noting information
  3. 10.3 Summarising the main ideas
  4. 10.4 Using a glossary and a dictionary
  5. 10.5 Fact, opinion and bias
  6. Summary and key words
  7. Check-up and practice test questions

Read the whole chapter on one page (good for printing).

Practise with real exam questions

The DfE publishes every past KS2 test, with mark schemes, for free.

KS2 English past papers